Stage names:

Sagawa Imagorô
Sagawa Masugorô II
Sagawa Dengo

Existence: ???

Connection:

Master: Sagawa Masugorô I (?) ^[1]

Career:

Before 1752: he performed under the name of Sagawa Dengo as a koyaku in Kamigata miyaji shibai. He became katakiyaku and took the name of Sagawa Imagorô.

11th lunar month of 1752: Imagorô performed for the first time in ôshibai, in Kyôto at the Minamigawa no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Hatsubaika Asahi no Minato", which was produced by Yamashita Matatarô I.

First half of the 1750s: he took the name of Sagawa Masugorô II.

11th lunar month of 1756: Masugorô performed at the Kitagawa no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Ukematsuri Hôrai Yakata", which was produced by Somematsu Matsujirô.

1st lunar month of 1757: Masugorô performed in the same theater in the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Tsukimatsuyama".

11th lunar month of 1757: Masugorô played at the Kitagawa no Shibai the role of Iga no Jûrô in the kaomise drama "Tsunomoji Keman no Yurai", which was produced by Nakamura Kumetarô I.

1st lunar month of 1758: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5 acts puppet theater drama "Gion Sairei Shinkôki", which was simultaneously produced at the Minamigawa no Shibai [casting] and at the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting]. It used its real title at the former theater but it was entitled "Keisei Niwatoriyama" at the latter theater; Masugorô played in the latter theater the roles of a hinin and Nagase Tanzô.

11th lunar month of 1758: Sagawa Masugorô II took the name of Sagawa Imagorô in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai, performing in the kaomise drama "Inari Yakata Irifune no Arashi", which was produced by Arashi Sangorô II.

1st lunar month of 1759: Imagorô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. Imagorô performed in the same theater in the ni-no-kawari drama "Shima Gasane Keisei Zakura".

1760~1764: no record in Kyôto/Ôsaka ôshibai.

1st lunar month of 1765: Imagorô played at the Uchino Shinchi Shibai ^[2] in Kyôto the roles of Abe no Sadatô and Iwate in the drama "Keisei Adachi-ga-Hara"; the roles of Abe no Munetô and Sodehagi were played by Shinozuka Sôza and Tatsuoka Hisagiku. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Sagawa Imagorô was a Kyôto katakiyaku actor, who was active in ôshibai only for a few years between 1752 and 1759.

[1] An assumption without any proof. Sagawa Masugorô I was a minor katakiyaku actor, who was active in Kamigata during the Kyôhô and Genbun eras.

[2] Uchino Shinchi was a kuruwa in Kyôto.

The actors Sagawa Imagorô (left) and Fujioka Daikichi (right) playing the roles of the false Hoshino Saibê (in reality Honjô Sajibei) and the true Hoshino Saibê in the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Naruo no Umi", which was staged in the 2nd lunar month of 1753 at the Minamigawa no Shibai